One day I went to church, soon after the Paris terrorist attacks in November, 2015. The priest talked about the fact that many boys are kidnapped or forced into terrorist training, as young as age six. They are taught violence and how to cause destruction. They may be threatened with death if they don’t cooperate. They don’t know any other life. I don’t know if the priest implied it, or I thought it myself – “How can they not be terrorists? They don’t anything else.” The priest also offered heartfelt prayers for violence to end, for our safety, and for God to touch the terrorists.

So, I’m driving home after this, and God knows what unconscious process unfolded in me, but suddenly I kept thinking, “God is going to win! Love is going to win! Love is stronger than all the violence, hate, and destruction.” This kept going through my mind for perhaps the rest of the day, and beyond.